Blind Beliefs

Until this Gaza conflict, I had not realized how blindly I could follow doctrine presented to me as news, while actually it was opinion with a biased slant.

I don’t want labels put on me–I will not register as a Democrat or a Republican. I reserve the right to be liberal on social issues and fiscally conservative, at the same time. (But I hope I am wise enough to look at the situation, and not just give a blanket stamp of approval either way.) I am not blue or red, but red, white and blue. I am an American and proud of it. Because I am American, I feel entitled to be free to speak my mind without fear of threat. And to change my mind if facts dictate it. But where do you find FACTS?

Someone who wanted to find unbiased reporting of the Gaza-Israeli conflict asked if Al Jazeera would be a good source. Al Jazeera is based in Qatar, an Arab nation. I can’t believe their news reporting is unbiased towards Israel. But people believe it to be reporting evenhandedly. Someone else directed me to a site that was supposedly unbiased that said Israel was using chemical weapons, trying to kill as many Palestinians as possible while keeping the buildings intact. That made no sense to me–I’d seen the rubble, for God’s sake, but the site did have an article with the headline: “Israel charged with Using White Phosphorous”. I was shocked, and decided to research the site’s origins. It was a media company based in Ramallah, a Palestinian city. Not a news company–a media company. The article was written in 2009 and was merely an allegation. It wasn’t based on FACTS. But if I hadn’t gone further, I, too, would have believed it.

Hamas plays by different rules than Americans. Israel, a democratic modern nation, plays by similar rules to ours. Maybe that is why the world holds it to a higher standard? That the world believes Israel should be more humanitarian, while it’s okay for Hamas to follow a doctrine of terror? It is a fact that Israel is going after the threat to their nation. I believe that the United States would do they same. (That is not genocide as some celebrities have charged!!) It’s pretty well established that Hamas has used schools and mosques as staging areas. It is fact that Israel has sent warnings to the areas they are going to bomb before they do. Why not get the people out? Hamas chooses to use them as human shields and pawns. Who is putting the Palestinians in harm’s way? World leaders are asking this same question.

I must say that I am against war. I want peace talks to work. I want people to live side-by-side, in peace. (I’d actually like people to work together to make the world a better place, but oh, well.) I can’t imagine attacking anyone–Wait, that is not true. If someone was trying to attack my grandchildren, children, my husband–any of my family or my next door neighbor, I’d go after them to the best of my ability. I’d use every weapon I could. I realize that now. Which is a FACT.